UBS 'fesses up, pays up and the IRS are looking for 19,000 tax evading clients whose details they have subpaeon'd. Swiss ignore US demands

UBS (UBS) will turn over the names of around 250 clients as part of a $780M settlement with U.S. prosecutors over a wide-ranging tax-evasion probe. This (so far) unique agreement marks the first time Swiss financial regulators have allowed a Swiss bank to reveal the identity of account holders.

The bank's chairman, Peter Kurer, said UBS accepted "full responsibility" for helping its U.S. clients conceal assets from the Internal Revenue Service.

This has upset the secretive swiss authorities who claim swindling and associated secrecy is OK , and opening up could ruin the country's That's the Swiss multi - cultural neutral core of EU swindling) banking industry.

Switzerland's Federal president, 66 year old Hans-Rudolf Merz, (elected Dec 10th 2008) said his country will not relent in defending its treasured tradition of confidential bank accounts.

"Banking secrecy, ladies and gentlemen, remains intact," Merz told reporters. Hmmmmmmmm.

In his youth, like Lord Patel President Merz was a Boy Scout.

UBS' agreement will settle the criminal case against the bank. An outstanding civil case filed by U.S. tax authorities in Miami involves subpoenaes requiring UBS to turn over the names of 19,000 clients believed to be avoiding taxes ( anumber changed without explanation later to 52,00).

According to todays (Thursday) filing, the thousands of accounts in question held about US$14.8 billion in assets in the past decade. The clients, filed false tax returns that omitted the income they earned in their secret offshore Swiss accounts, according to the court papers.

Merz show a characteristic and very robust resistance to Bussels interfering with swiss tax / banking laws when he met EU President Jose Manuel Barroso in December (see pic) More here. More on Widmer -Schlumpf here & here who took over from Cristoph Blocher when he (sensationally) retired just prior to this meeting.

A lady to be reckoned with.

Terrorist attack "Highly likely" Home Secretary tells the Germans but not UK citizens .....

Der Speigel today interviewed expenses fiddler , kebab lover , non inhaling spliff smoker and Blair "Babe", waster of Police time Jacqui Smith.

SPIEGEL: Recently, Germany has been threatened with terrorist attacks in several video messages. How would you evaluate the general situation?

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith: Severe. We believe that an attack is highly likely and could happen at any time and without warning. On the other hand we see some success. In 2008, we had 50 people convicted in terror-related trials and this year there will not be a single day in the United Kingdom without a terrorist trial on the timetable.

The truth about Bloody Sunday still concealed

The Government announced on December 18th 1974 that they will pay £42,000 compensation to relatives of those killed in the Bloody Sunday riots in Northern Ireland nearly three years ago.

An inquiry by Lord Widgery in 1972 had completely exonerated the army.

Thirteen men were killed when British troops opened fire on a group of civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside district of Londonderry on 30 January 1972.

The payments, which range from £250 to more than £16,500, were being made "in a spirit of goodwill and conciliation", the Ministry of Defence said.

The widow of one of the victims and mother of eight children, Mrs Ita McKinney, is to receive more than £13,000 from the government.

She said: "I will accept the money on behalf of my children. It will not make any difference to my life. I have lost my husband, things will still be the same."

The Rt Hon Lord Saville of Newdigate is the chaiman of a Tribunal of Enquiry established in 1998 by Tony Blair into the events on Sunday 30 January 1972 which led to loss of life in connection with the procession in Londonderry on that day, taking account of any new information relevant to events on that day.

The last of the 900 witnesses to the Tribunal was heard in January 2005.

On the 12 August 2005 a Press release was issued - Final Report - The report is currently in preparation.

"Tessa Jowell, let slip on BBC TV's Sunday AM programme that "the latest estimate )of costs of the Savile enquiry) . . . is about £400 million"

Downing Street and ministers joined together in claiming that the "awful" cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry as a reason for rejecting growing demands from the relatives of victims and Muslim leaders for an official enquiry into the 7/7 bombings.

On Wednesday, 19 November 2008 the Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said that the Saville enquiry will not publish its findings for at least another year.

December 13th 1981 Poland imposed martial law

German suicide bombers take aim for London - Expect the Unexpected

Bild has a report today of a 1,000 Kilo Glider - bomb (Segel-Bomber ) which was to be released from a bomber and guided down at a speed up to 1125 Kph by a pilot who would evacuate and parachute down.

These detailed pencil drawings are said to have been found in July 1945 in Hitler's Reich's Chancellery in Berlin and are being sent for sale to a London auction house.

All seems very unlikely.

UPDATE : Not so unlikely after all Daily Telegraph has a story later - The drawings were found in Berlin by Richard Rex who had been sent to Germany in 1945 to help establish a medical dispensary.

International Autograph Auctions is selling the plans on Dec 13 at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow, London. They are estimated to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000.

See also as Stef suggests looking at this Wikipedia page Natter (Adder) the Bachem Ba 349 experimental rocket powered interceptor aircraft.

Brussels - Expect the Unexpected

Daily Telegraph Belgian police 'thwart imminent al-Qaeda attack'

Belgian police say they have thwarted an imminent al-Qaeda suicide bomb attack as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other European Union leaders arrived for a summit in Brussels.

Heads of state and government are currently arriving in Brussels for a two-day summit to discuss the economic crisis and climate change.

A well disguised chemical weapon was discovered by the Police as they swooped on suspects.

Depleted Jean de Menezes jury consider verdict for 6th day

The remaining 10 Jurors at the inquest on the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes started their sixth day of deliberations at the early time of 9.30 am today.

Yesterday the Coroner Sir Michael Wright told the jury it must now reach a majority of at least eight to two.

One wondesr what sort of legal precedent is set by a jury providing a verdict on which only 8 of the original dozen can agree ?

As Gareth Pierce et al are applying to the High Court for a judicial review of Sir Michael Wright 's directions to the jury about what verdicts can be permitted - it would seem that m'lern'd friends are due to make some more moolah. .. £ 4 MN. to date and the meter is still ticking.

Voice Stress Analysis - Junk Science used by Government to frighten and intimidate benefit claimants

Harrow Council Communications Management Strategy 2003 - 2006 - Successful communications are at the heart of any successful enterprise...... Harrow Council tries to be open and honest in its dealings.

Independent observers therefore might find it difficult to reconcile this worthy objective with the details of the London Borough of Harrow - The introduction of Voice Risk Analysis to Housing Benfits and Council Tax assessments - which is a nominee for the e-Government National Awards 2007.

Public technology.net provides an effusive and excited review of this exciting initiative ;

"Harrow's Housing Benefit Service is already a national benchmark of excellence, with a four star CPA rating and fastest assessment times in the country. The recent implementation of Voice Risk Assessment (VRA) has further improved performance, secured a DWP easement on checking claimants' details, and saved money. VRA does not deter benefits claimants - Harrow's caseload is the highest it has ever been but helps to drive out fraud or error and to target resources faster. The use of this technology in the public sector is a national 'first' for Harrow. Following its success both Lambeth and Birmingham councils have adopted the package."

Apparently Mike Carney (Head of Assessments) consulted with Capita in January 2007 and decided to use VRA within its contact centre , " to innovate the review process "(?) Capita are the Council's strategic partner. Harrow worked with them to apply their general VRA technology to a Local Government assessments environment. They have provided technical expertise and supported Harrow's project manager in implementing the system.

As a national 'first' implementing VRA required courage (?). But the DWP's confidence in the project was such that it funded the pilot. By February operators were being trained and the scripts developed by the Council.

1.VRA went live on May 21 for Housing and Council Tax Benefits interventions.
2. The system was extended in June for review of single person discounts
3. It was further extended in August for new claims for Housing and Council Tax Benefits.
4. We have worked with Job Centre Plus who plan to pilot VRA from September.
5.Plans are also in place to extend the service to cover a range of other assessment based Council services, such as Blue Badges and Freedom Passes."
6. We are on track to achieve the Government's PI (?) within 2007.

John Hutton, who was then the Secretary for Work and Pensions (eGov monitor 10 April 2007) said , "Harrow Council is already recognised as providing one of the best Housing Benefit services in the UK and I welcome its willingness to pilot this innovative technique to make further improvements." What he failed to mention was that no surrogate marker of deception has yet proved reliable enough to be admitted as evidence in a court of law in the UK.

Benefits ? - well they claim ..." So far we have reviewed 588 cases and fast-tracked processing for 402 of them. Of these 135 declared a change, and 73 are being followed up further. This has resulted in a saving in this area alone of £98,192, and £140,000 in total. The one year trial costs only £63,000 and has saved £140,000 in the first four months. "

Recent figures from the DWP are said to show that Benefit fraud in the UK is estimated to run to a total of £800m in 2006/7, and that there were more than 52,000 prosecutions in 2005/6. The Fraud Act 2001 gave fraud investigators more powers to catch and punish offenders, including greater powers to check records with other organisations.

Curiously in the Guradian December 2nd they say ... "In the first three months Harrow council saved £300,000, suggesting levels of benefit fraud may be higher than government estimates." ...the Monbiot Calculus at work again, think of a number ...er.. then make it bigger. In the Economist on May 8th 2008 they report ..."This week the council said that in the ten months from May 2007, when the system was installed, it had saved £420,000 ($828,000).

A press report in the Birmingham Post May 8th 2008 , "Phone lie detector led to 160 Birmingham benefit cheat investigations" , reports that of 2,656 calls subject to checking, 6%, around 160, were classified as "high risk", leading to further inquiries. It refrains from saying how many of those investigated then proved to be cheating the system or lying. See also BBC video report posted at the same time...."Fifteen councils across Britain are to be offered lie detectors to help catch out benefit cheats who cost taxpayers up to £400m a year. "

As recently as November 20th the BBC reported that the technology will be used for the first time on telephone calls of unemployment benefit claimants in Lincoln and Nottingham.

Harrow, partnered with Capita, are one of the 68 Finalists and are included in Section 9) Local e-Government excellence: Team - they will hear their fate at an exclusive black-tie e-Government National Awards dinner which takes place 6.45pm - 11.15pm on 20th January 2009 at the prestigious Guildhall in the City of London.(details)

What exactly is Harrow's / Capita's magical Voice Risk Assessment (VRA) system

Here we have to thank the Yorkshire Ranter - Dr. Benway strikes again, with Venture Capital who with sound knowledge and experience and with a wry literary touch provides a detailed and lethal de-bunking and also The Ministry of Truth for the Government Bullshit Risk Detector .

Briefly ..

Voice stress analysis (VSA), is not new and , works it is claimed, by detecting involuntary psychophysiological modulations in a subsonic and inaudible component of the voice called the ‘Lippold Tremor’ at a frequency of between 8Hz and 12Hz. As far as can be ascertained the original research was undertaken on live voice recording and computer analysis - not on digitally transmitted voice data over telephone networks.

Within the world of Detection Of Deception (DOD) this issue is hotly debated with polygraphists (Lie Detectors) and few independent research studies have been undertaken. A study by VThe State of Virginia in 2003, (35 page pdf) at which time the technique was in widespread use, concluded that

"Because there have been no independent scientific studies conducted on the reliability of the computer voice analyzer to detect deception, the Board recommends to the Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation that computer voice analyzer equipment should not be approved in Virginia at this time."

The technique used by Harrow is a proprietary, patented (only in Canada it appears - registrant is Amir Liberman, an Israeli - 16th Dec. 1998) system utilising a subset of VSA called Layered Voise Analysis which is peddled by a company called Nemesysco Ltd. a privately held security-oriented company founded in 2000, and headquartered in Netanya, Israel and sold through Digilog UK.

The suppliers do not claim that their devices detect lies; rather, they claim that VSA detects microtremors, which are caused by the stress of trying to conceal or deceive. hence it's usefulness in their personal use product ... the PC based Love Detector - The Love Detector technology is capable of detecting love-like feelings and other emotions via the telephone or a microphone.

There is little experimental or independent evidence of the utility of this technique but the Natonal Institute of Justice - a section of the US Department of Justice published a report by Kelly R. Damphousse, Ph.D. in their Journal dated March 17, 2008 - entitled , "Voice Stress Analysis: Only 15 Percent of Lies About Drug Use Detected in Field Test" in which they address the question ...Can VSA Accurately Detect Deception? and they conclude ;

Our findings suggest that these VSA software programs were no better in
determining deception about recent drug use among arrestees than flipping a
coin.

The Yorkshire Ranter however points to a fatal weakness in that the original work on VSA relies upon

... a change in a signal in your voice between 8 and 12Hz, but even the highest-quality voice codecs used for public telephony filter out everything below 50Hz, so a VSA system based on - well - science couldn't possibly work.

All this is of course to some extent an academic and amusing diversion - but it isn't.

In the Queen's Speech debate the Guradian reports ;

The government also highlighted a pilot covering 25 local councils administering housing benefit to 500,000 claimants, saying "voice risk analysis technology" will be used to test whether a claimant is providing false information. The government first introduced the technology in Harrow in north London last year, but now says it plans to make the technology available nationwide.

The Government have of course anticipated resistance to the system and response is outlined here by Department for Work & Pensions Anti-Fraud Minister, James Plaskitt yesterday during their media blitz on May 8th 2008.

His ad hominem is remarkable (or not in the circumstances) in that it justifies the use of such systems by their results, not by any attempt to validate the techniques.

This is because, by simply telling the caller such a system is in use acts as a deterrant to continue with the application. This may be because they are attempting to commit fraud, but it may not be.

The use of this technology is merely to cow and frighten, the guilty and the inoccent will fall foul of this technique unsupported by any rigorous scientific studies. Furthermore no surrogate marker of deception has yet proved reliable enough to be admitted as evidence in a court of law in the UK.

So the state is using a technique which is fraudulent to possibly identify the fraudsters.... but... but ... Harrow Council tries to be open and honest in its dealings.

Recent figures from the DWP are said to show that Benefit fraud in the UK is estimated to run to a total of £800m in 2006/7 - equivalent to the loss to the HMRC of 2 months carousel fraud.

Jean de Menezes inquest dissolving into a shambles

Coroner Sir Michael Wright, presiding over the inquest into the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes at the Oval Cricket Ground is looking increasingly isolated and incompetent.

Last week, he ruled that the jury was forbidden from considering whether the innocent Tube passenger was unlawfully killed. Since then the lawyers for de Menezes family have withdrawn from the court.

The jury will be reduced today to 10 members with one of the jurors being discharged because of overseas travel plans , according to the transcript , Sir Michael .."will give you further directions tomorrow morning upon the new majority figures that
would apply to a jury of ten" - expect more defections / gyppy tummies / deaths in the family.

Now he has said he would accept a majority verdict after the jurors have (so far) failed to reach unanimity.

The jurors who have spent 5 days deliberating have been told to cast aside any emotion in deciding between a lawful killing verdict or an open verdict. They must also answer a questionnaire the contents of which are confidential.

The BBC report that Sir Michael Wright said a majority must agree on all the points in a list of questions they have to answer "yes", "no" or "cannot decide" to.

However with an evaporating jury, disappearing lawyers, failure to arrive at a verdict (even a majority) simply pushes off any potential legal action against the state's assassins - and will no doubt even further delay the inquest into the 7/7 victims.

Which , failing an open verdict , is for the forces of law and order, after three months, 100 witnesses and a cost of £3 million pounds, a result. (BBC - Four councils, Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham and Greenwich in south London could have to pay a bill of more than £4m for the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest to be held, it has been revealed.)
Family Inquest Website

Coroners Website


Mr Ralph Livock 30th October 2008 questioned by Mr Hilliard

Q. Thank you. Did you hear him say anything to Mr de Menezes?
A. Absolutely not.

Jean de Menezes jury can decide any verdict they wish according to their conviction

At the inquest on the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, Sir Michael Wright, a former High Court judge, said that it was "not justified" to consider the death as a criminal offence.

As the jury prepare to be sent out to reach a verdict, Sir Michael instructed them that the death could not be considered an unlawful killing and told jurors they can only return an open verdict or one of lawful killing.

On Thursday, several relatives walked out of the hearing wearing T-shirts bearing messages critical of the coroner's decision to exclude a verdict of unlawful killing - "Unlawful killing verdict" and "Your legal right to decide". .

Sir Michael Wright said it was "wrong for anyone to try to put pressure on a jury and it should not have happened". BBC They have commenced their third day of deliberations this morning.

Bushell's Case

Bushel’s Case (1670) is a famous English decision on the role of juries resulting from the desire of the Crown to persecute Quakers. Having failed to succeed against Sir William Penn (founder of Pennsyvania) they decided to prosecute him with his son, William Mead, for a charge of unlawful assembly.

.... in the parish of St. Bennet Grace-church in Bridge-ward, London, in the street called Grace-church street, unlawfully and tumultuously did assemble and congregate themselves together, to the disturbance of the peace of the said lord the king:

In August, 1670, the two Quakers were challenging the Conventicle Act, which restricted certain religious practices.

The judge had charged the jury that they "shall not be dismissed until we have a verdict that the court will accept."

When the juryled by Edward Bushell decided to acquit, the judge was not willing to accept it and sent them back, fining them.

Clerk. What say you? Look upon the prisoners at the bar; is William Penn guilty of the matter whereof he stands indicted, in manner and form as aforesaid, or Not Guilty?
Foreman. William Penn is Guilty of speaking in Gracechurch-Street.
Mayor. To an unlawful assembly?
Bush. No, my lord, we give no other verdict than what we gave last night; we have no other verdict to give.

Edward Bushell, refused to pay the fine and so the judge threatened him that "[y]ou shall be locked up without meat, drink, fire, and tobacco. You shall not think thus to abuse the court; we will have a verdict, by the help of God, or you shall starve for it."

This was apparently not unusual - well into the nineteenth century, jurors were locked up without 'food or fire, water or candle' until they reached a verdict.

Bushel, the foreman of the jury, took a case to the Court of Common Pleas, where it was established by Sir John Vaughan (Christ Church) that a jury could not be coerced into giving a particular verdict. This case established unequivocally the independence of the jury. Reported by Chief Justice Vaughan in 124 ER 1006 (The English Reports). See whole case here Howells State Trials also 6th Form Law !!! and Wikipedia

There is a plaque commemorating 'Bushell's Case' in the Old Bailey with the names of the jurors involved and also include Sir John Vaughan....

Near this site William Penn and William Mead were tried in 1670 for preaching to an unlawful assembly in Gracechurch Street.

This tablet commemorates the courage and endurance of the jury, Thomas Vere, Edward Bushell and ten others, who refused to give a guilty verdict against them although they were locked up without food for two nights and were fined for their final verdict of Not Guilty.

The case of these jurymen was reviewed on a writ of Habeas Corpus and Chief Justice Vaughn delivered the opinion of the court which established the Right of Juries to give their Verdict according to their conviction.


Curiously no legal eagles / Press have pointed this out.

Martin O'Hagan's murder to be cleared up ? Murky world of LVF / UVF / Police assassinations may be uncovered

The name of Martin O'Hagan, hardly rings any bells these days. He was an unconventional Northern Ireland journalist who had been an IRA activist and twice been imprisoned.

He was interned in 1971 and spent more than a year in the Official IRA compound at Long Kesh. After he was freed in 1973, he was jailed for seven years for transporting guns, and was released in 1978.

Martin O'Hagan was shot dead in Lurgan, Co Armagh, aged 51,on September 28, 2001.

He was a principal source for material used in Channel 4's 1991 Dispatches documentary, The Committee. This exposed what we now know is without any doubt , that there was an Ulster Central Co-ordinating Committee, a group of loyalists and security forces members who conspired to carry out sectarian assassinations.

The RUC and mainstream loyalist paramilitaries derided such a concept as the result of fevered journalistic imagination.O'Hagan had been paid ... therefore he was incapable of delivering the Truth. The programme led to a prolonged series of prosecutions and libel cases, some of which remain unresolved.

Channel 4 was fined £75,000 and made to pay huge legal costs for failing to supply the RUC with information about the allegations in the programme. The Guradian has a good Biography at the time of his death here.

Martin O'Hagan's murder was "claimed" by the Red Hand Defenders a nom de guerre used by the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

We now know from the activities of the Police Ombudsman that the Police did indeed collude with paid assassins to kill, run guns, drugs and benefit from the proceeds of crime. BBC ONline Jan 22nd 2007 "NI police colluded with killers "

On 6th April 2008 the Sunday World (Documents here) published the name of Robin "Billy" King (who lived/s in Lurgan and ran the LVF) as the killer and asked pointedly why the PSNI had not arrested and charged him with the murder. In the same issue the newspaper ran a story on the unveiling of a plaque in memory to Martin at Belfast's Linenhall Library.

Today BBC Online report..."Four men are to appear in court charged in connection with the murder of journalist Martin O'Hagan.

Two men are charged with his murder, one with attempting to pervert the course of justice and the fourth is charged with assisting offenders. "
See excellent Amnesty story

UPDATE Monday afternoon : The Retrospective Murder Review Team is headed by Supt Alan Skelton and Dt Chief Brian Murphy. Their brief includes re-examining many unsolved paramilitary-related killings, including that of Martin O'Hagan.

Skelton and Murphy reopened the O'Hagan murder file last year.

Today 28-year old Neil Hyde of Princetown Avenue, and Nigel William Leckey,of Bowens Lane who is 43, both from Lurgan, Co Armagh, were charged with murdering the Sunday World reporter who was shot dead near his home in Lurgan 7 years ago. Leckey was also charged with possession of ammunition.

They were remanded in custody to appear again by a video link at Craigavon on 10th October.

A third defendant charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice was also remanded in custody until the same date.

A fourth person charged with facilitating the concealment, and or the disposal of a motor car used in the attack was granted bail to appear again at Craigavon on 10 October.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that one of those arrested has turned Queen's evidence as his family has been taken into protective custody.

However the man who pulled the trigger and is Prime Suspect Mumber 1, Robin "Billy" King , now a born again Christian, who has recently had a nice holiday in Mexico, runs a car business AKA drugs running outfit in the Netherlands and has criminal associates in Eire has done a runner from Lurgan and the PSNI cannot find him.

THis has to be a good case of a Monday being a good day to bury bad news.

Baby Bombers !!!!! The NEW Terror Threat from all terrain pram bombers on your street NOW : Amazing Pictures !!!

Lord Carlile , the independent reviewer of UK terrorism legislation, is a worried man. Lord Carlile is a frightened man.

Which he should be...in his latest report, Lord Carlile highlights the risk of terrorists hijacking executive jets lightweight, stripped own , street smart , all terrain prams (ATP's as the Police call them) - ideal for surprise pavement attacks with prams packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings, in crowded streets full of mothers with prams, cinemas, Premier League Football stadiums !!!

Although there is no intelligence about this, Lord Carlile said senior police officers had concerns, given the large number of aeroplanes prams in private hands.

The baby Bombers have their own sinister website . Lord Patel was a "Baby Boomer" now in his twilight years he is faced with pram bombers silently striking on their trademark high pressure rubber tyred prams. Some so robust you could strap a 14 mm Heckler & Koch rapid fire , automatic pistol with dum dum HE ammunition that can slice through armour plate on them. One small pram , a lethal highly manouverable bomb. Just imagine. In a bloody instant ... body parts everywhere, blood, in a shopping street NEAR YOU ..many could be booby trapped, designed to kill Policemen!!!

The threat is everywhere , there are 3 million prams surging through the urban jungle every day , 6 Million "parents" could be carrying a load of death on our 267 million miles of pavements, 275,000 public parks, even 24,000 miles of canal towpaths - just look how canals penetrate the Heart of Britain. (Click to enlarge this fearsome "network" that has grown in our midst silently over the centuries - was Brindley a Muslim ?)

Feel frightened ? Worried ? Well you should be.

Lord Carlile reports that only 257 people were arrested under terrorism powers in 2007 ...there are 6,000,000 pram users with their apparently inoccent load of a bundle of joy which could easily be a ricin based, low yield nuclear bomb ... the frightening news is , more babies are born every day, that means more prams are being sold every day !!!!

The threat on our streets is growing every day.

If you see someone with a pram - even if there is a baby in it , let a policeman know, immediately. You cannot be too careful.

Now is the time for a National Pram owners and usesr Database. Why Oh Why Oh Why ! don't we have a record of this mass of potential terrorists in our midst? Why Oh Why aren't prams licensed ? Surely a scheme to have registration plates, owners details, psychometric profile, DNA could easily be set up to every new parent ?

We repeat -- tell your children , your loved ones ...If you see someone with a pram , let a policeman know, immediately.

Bike Bombers !!!!! The NEW Terror Threat from the silent cycles on your street NOW !!: Amazing Pictures !!!

Lord Carlile , the independent reviewer of UK terrorism legislation, is a worried man. Lord Carlile is a frightened man.

Which he should be...in his latest report, Lord Carlile highlights the risk of terrorists hijacking executive jets lightweight, stripped own , fast bicycles - ideal for surprise pavement attacks on bikes packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings, in crowded streets full of mothers with prams, cinemas, Premier League Football stadiums !!!

Although there is no intelligence about this, Lord Carlile said senior police officers had concerns, given the large number of aeroplanesbicycles in private hands.

Graham Greene ex master spy who knew about these things, made cycle bombers the centre of his eye opening spy thriller, "The Quiet American" about the slant eyed Vietnamese silently striking on their rubber tyred bikes. One small bike , one small bomb and body parts everywhere, blood, ..many could be booby trapped, designed to kill Policemen!!!

The threat is everywhere , 7 million potential terrorists spread through (amazingly another crazy Lotteryfunded left wing project run by lesbians) a " ational Cycle Network" that penetrates the Heart of Britain.

Feel frightened ? Worried ? Well you should be...and so should your loved ones, especially the kiddies.

Lord Carlile reports that only 257 people were arrested under terrorism powers in 2007 ...there are 7,000,000 cyclists ...and more cycles are being sold every day !!!!

If you see someone on a bike, let a policeman know, immediately.

Now is the time for a National Bike Owners Database. Why Oh Why Oh Why ! don't we have a record of this mass of potential terrorists in our midst?

We repeat -- tell your children ...If you see someone on a bike, let a policeman know, immediately.

Lotfi Riassi - Home Office appeal against compensation thrown out by House of Lords - War criminal Jack Straw exposed as a despot and a fucking liar

Yesterday (See (Times) (PA) today) the House of Commons Appeal Committee refused the Home Office petition appeal against a claim for Compensation for wrongful imprisonment by Lotfi Raissi . It exposes scandalous , corrupt and dishonest activity by the Metropolitan Police, the Crown prosecution Service, the then Home Secratary war criminal Jack Straw, sucessor Home Secretaries and numberless and nameless Home Office officials. This involved the impronment without charge or trial of Lotfi Raissi for nearly 5 months in Belmarsh prison as a Category A prisoner on false, misleading, and concocted evidence and public claims of terrorism and mass murder were made without a scrap of evidence to support such claims.

Claims which were parroted by an unquestioning Press happy to retail these poisonous lies. Faced with clear evidence of the lies and dishonest claims made to keep Riassi in jail the Home Secretary then twice refused to omensate him for his loss of liberty, income and any psychological distress to himself and his family and the lingering slur on his reputation.

This is the story so far ...

Lotfi Raissi, 27, was alleged to have trained pilots involved in the US 9/11 terror attacks, including the hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon . He was arrested in the UK on September 21, 2001 by the Metropolitan Police on the request of the US Authorities - directly by the FBI. He was hauled away naked by the Police after they arrested both he and his wife at gunpoint at 3.am (she was held for 5 days, his brother for 2 days) after smashing their way into his flat. The media (eg BBC) at the time hailed the arrest in Britain of the first suspects in the global hunt for the men who planned the worst terrorist attacks ever seen.

On September 28th he appeared at Bow Street Magistrates Court. The United States Government was represented by the CPS. The CPS sought a remand in custody for 60 days pending receipt of the formal extradition request.Various newspapers quote Ms Arvinda Sambir (Sambei in some press stories) (CPS lawyer) stating that Mr Raissi's job was to ensure that the 9/11 pilots were capable and trained. A Guardian Unlimited article quoted her as saying:

"It is no secret that we are looking at charges of conspiracy to murder, what we say is that Mr Raissi was in fact an instructor for four of the pilots responsible for the hijackings and the one we are particularly concerned about is the one that crashed into the Pentagon, Hani Hanjour."

It was this advocate for the CPS who said that there were pages missing from his log book and that those pages related to the time that he was training the dead pilots, with whom he had conspired. This allegation relating to the missing pages was withdrawn in late November/early December 2001 when it was realised, that someone had taken the log book apart for copying and had reassembled it in the wrong order.

The Appeal Court Judges were later to note of these proceedings (para 52)" We have not been shown any contemporaneous document which supports the allegation made by the CPS that Raissi was involved in 9/11."

There was a further Court appearance by Raissi on October 5th which the Appeal Court Judges were later to says ,(para60) "Nothing that this court has seen could be said to justify the CPS statement that the appellant was 'shortly to be charged with conspiracy to murder'. "


On Tuesday 12th February having been held in Belmarsh prison for 5 months without having been charged with any offence, he was released on conditional bail as he only faced extradition on two counts of falsifying an application for a US pilot's licence by Judge Timothy Workman.

Mr Raissi was released on £10,000 bail, ordered to surrender his passport and told not to apply for international travel documents. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which was representing the US, had objected to bail.

The Appeal Cort Judges later noted Para 98 .."According to the clerk's notes DJ Workman said:

"Your client appeared before me on a number of occasions when allegations of terrorism made- the court has received no evidence at all to support that allegation. (Underlining added)"

They also later observed in Para 99 that "Since the dismissal of these extradition proceedings, the appellant has not been the subject of terrorism charges either in this country, in the United States or elsewhere. "

In 2005 the Home Secretary twice ruled he was not eligible for compensation and so in October 2006 he asked the High Court to overturn the Home Office's decision, claiming the detention "damaged his reputation, lost him his liberty and caused him distress and psychiatric injury".

As a consequence Court of Appeal Judges Lady Justice Smith and Lord Justice Hooper found minor charges unconnected with terrorism were used to keep Mr Raissi in custody and their judgement was highly critical of the Metropolitan Police and the CPS.

Yesterday the House of Commons Appeal Committee refused the Home Office petition appeal because the petition did not raise an "arguable point of law of general public importance".

Mr Raissi has called for a "long awaited apology" from Justice secretary Jack Straw and will be making claims for compensation which will run into many millions of pounds beacuse he has been able to obtain employment as an airline pilot.

In the submissions to the Home Secretary for compensation dated March 2004, it was said that there was a clear abuse of the process of the court because the proceedings were being used for an ulterior purpose. A number of factors indicating that the extradition proceedings were used for an ulterior purpose were then set out: the reference to holding charges, the nature of those charges and the deliberate 'talking-up' of the evidence by the CPS. The document gave a detailed account of how the terrorist allegations developed over the period that the appellant was in custody.

It is not a lengthy process but it is worth considering the summary of these abuses of process in detail ; (Para 101 of judgement)

i) In court on 28 September 2001 the CPS described Raissi as a 'lead instructor' of the five 9/11 pilots. Records available to the CPS at that time showed that in fact Raissi had flown separately from Hanjour and that Hanjour was taught by other instructors. This was confirmed by interviews of Raissi conducted by DC Stevenson. The CPS' description of Raissi was therefore not only unsupported by the available evidence, but was in fact contradicted by it;

ii) However, the CPS lawyer, Ms Arvinda Sambir, went further outside court and said that Raissi's job was to ensure that the pilots were capable and trained. Again, she had no evidence to support this statement;

iii) At the next hearing on 5 October 2001, the CPS modified the allegation, saying simply that Raissi had flown together with Hanjour between 1997 and 2000 on three unspecified occasions. This was also misleading. The flight records showed simply that Raissi and Hanjour may have flown on the same day, and even used the same aircraft, but not at the same time, and therefore not 'together';

iv) The statement of Ryan Plunkett asserted that Hanjour, Raissi and Mr Hassan trained together in a plane on the 8 March 2001. However, Richard Egan's statement explained that the 8 March 2001 entry in Raissi's log book was a mistake and that he in fact flew on 9 March 2001. He also observed that the log book showed that the flights undertaken by Hanjour and Raissi were for different durations and involved different manoeuvres;

v) At the hearing on 27 November 2001, the CPS asserted that Raissi trained Hanjour at least once. However, they admitted 'there were no flight records to support the allegation';

vi) Mr Plunkett said that Raissi trained Hanjour on a flight simulator, and that they had taken flight simulator training at Arizona Aviation on the same day on five occasions.

vii) At the High Court Bail application on 10th December 2001, the CPS conceded there was no flight simulator at Arizona Aviation. However, they stated that there was one at Sawyer Aviation and that Hanjour and Raissi may have undertaken simulator training together, although the records were unclear;

viii) In fact, the flight training schools records, which had been available to the CPS from the beginning of the extradition proceedings, not only did not support their case that Raissi trained Hanjour, but contradicted it by revealing Hanjour's other flight instructors. In saying the records were unclear, rather than accepting that the allegation was unsubstantiated, the CPS misled the court;

ix) Mr Pontin of SO13 misled Mr Egan in telling him that the FBI had not spoken to Mr Hassan, Mr. Hanjour's instructor. In fact, as Mr. Hassan informed Mr Egan shortly after his conversation with Mr Pontin, the FBI had interviewed him twice, and he had told them he had never flown a plane with Raissi and Hanjour. He had also said he did not even know if they knew each other;

x) The CPS never conceded that Hanjour and Raissi did not fly or train together. On 12 February 2002 they asserted that only one matter had changed in their reasons for opposing bail and that was the alleged link between Raissi and Mr Abu Doha. It was implicit in this that one of their grounds of opposition – that Raissi flew with or trained Hanjour – was maintained, despite there being no supporting evidence;

xi) The CPS also stated in unqualified terms (on 28 September and 5 October 2001) that there was video evidence of Raissi and Hanjour together. However, it was clear from only a cursory examination of the material that the man photographed with Raissi was not Hanjour. The CPS had produced no evidence of anyone saying that the other man was Hanjour. Mr Egan explained in his statement of 28 November 2001 that the man was Raissi's cousin. Nonetheless, the CPS continued to maintain at the High Court bail application that it was Hanjour.

xii) It is plain that the CPS neither produced nor possessed any evidence of any kind that showed that Raissi had trained Hanjour or any of the other hijackers.

xiii) The broader allegation made by the CPS on 28 September 2001 of a general link between Raissi and the hijackers was also unsupported by the evidence. On 5 and 26 October 2001, and at the High Court bail hearings, they said simply that Raissi regularly telephoned Hanjour and that they travelled together. In fact Raissi's telephone bills, which the CPS had in its possession, indicated no contact at all with Mr Hanjour. No other evidence was provided to support any of these assertions;

xiv) As for the alleged link between Raissi and Abu Doha, this was based on the misleading impression given by Mr Plunkett that an address book was found at a property in London belonging to Abu Doha, and contained a telephone number of a flatmate of Raissi. There was an implication in Mr. Plunkett's statement that the book belonged to Abu Doha. In fact, the tenant of the property in question was Mr Abdelaziz Kermani, who subsequently gave evidence that the address book was his, and that that would have been apparent to anyone recovering it. Among other things, it had his Home Office reference number on the front of it, was in a locked brief case in his bedroom, and was with his British and Algerian driving licences, his Algerian ID card and correspondence addressed to him;

xv) The Metropolitan Police and the CPS were aware of the evidence strongly suggesting the address book belonged to Kermani, not Abu Doha. The misrepresentation of the book as providing a link between Raissi and Abu Doha must have arisen from the actions of either or both of those authorities;

It is also worth remembering (para 24) that Raissi was interviewed by officers of the Metropolitan Police following his arrest and that an FBI agent observed the interviews from a remote location via a television link.

At Para 30 it shows that Raissi ... was "de-arrested" at 2.17 am on 28 September (6 days after his arrest) . At that time, therefore, it can be inferred that the police in this country had no reasonable cause to believe that he was a terrorist; otherwise he would have been charged. Nothing on the papers suggests that thereafter they had such reasonable cause. If they had reasonable cause, it is difficult to believe that they would not have re-arrested him when he was eventually released on bail or when he was later discharged on the extradition charges.

At Para 32 ...28 September 2001, following his 'de-arrest', Raissi was immediately re-arrested on a provisional warrant issued by District Judge (Magistrates' Court) ("DJ") Evans under paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 of the Extradition Act 1989 .. this was for extradition for ...(he) omitted to disclose previous surgery on a Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") Form.. and a second charge that .."alleged an omission to disclose "that you have been to a health care professional in the preceding three years" and at Para 40 .. The health professional whom the appellant had visited was apparently the surgeon who had operated on his knee.

Yesterday Mr Raissi said : “There can be no more appeals and no more excuses. The courts have held that I was the victim of a miscarriage of justice at the hands of the police and CPS. Jack Straw should accept the decision of the courts and offer me the long-awaited apology I have asked for.”

The Times and the PA gave very curt coverage today to this momentous decision. The above story should be read by anyone who is being asked to extend the need to imprison people for 42 days without charge.

It is worth noting that Raissi's case presents difficulties indiscussions with his country of birth, Algeria , whose government refuses to sign an agreement with Britain about extraditing hijackers until Britain acknowledges that its treatment of Raissi was flawed. British authorities continue to insist that British police and prosecutors acted properly, and it was American authorities who were at fault for supplying them with bad intelligence.

In its judgment the Appeal Court stated that the “primary responsibility for the falsity” over the notebook lay with the Met and the CPS. The judges also found that the false claim about the flight logs could be blamed on either carelessness or incompetence by Scotland Yard.

“We consider that the way in which extradition proceedings were conducted in this country, with opposition to bail based on allegations which appear unfounded in evidence, amounted to an abuse of process.

Willie Nelson - the lies of 9/11, Bush will cancel the election and stay in office, Bilderberg ... Colin Powell exposed lying to UN

Willie Nelson made some startling comments on the Alex Jones show about what really happened on 9/11.

Amongst his others comments-- an inkling that the twin towers' collapse looking like a controlled demolition and that WTC Building 7 was an unexplained collapse.

Nelson also discussed the dangers of martial law and the possibility that Bush would cancel the elections and remain in office. Willie also commented on the ruling elite, including the Bilderberg group. Nelson said he liked Jones' Endgame, a film that features the Bilderberg group's 2006 Ottawa, Canada meeting.




Just another part in the ...

Here's another section - read this excerpt of Neck Deep : The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush by Robert, Sam and Nat Parry about the catalogue of lies that Colin Powell told the UN , the catalogue of lies you saw Colin Powell tell UN .... that he knew and his Chief of Staff Col. Larry Wilkerson knew was a catalogue of lies, that the head of the CIA George Tenet knew was a cataogue of lies.

If you want to read what Powell said in detail read the White House contemporary report here.

Charles Clarke and advice to police forces on recording telephone conversations, fucking lying Sir Ian Blair and Chief Inspector of Constabulary

The BBC reported on 13 March 2006 that Sir Ian Blair had tape recorded telephone conversations with the well known war criminal Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, a journalist and the Independent Police Complaints Commission and that he had "expressed regret" for the calls and apologised.

Apparently Sir Iain had earlier said he taped Lord Goldsmith's call as he had wanted a record because they were discussing a complex issue and he did not have a note taker.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the chief inspector of constabulary is to issue guidance to police forces on the recording of telephone conversations "so there can be no ambiguity".

Sadiq Khan was allegedly bugged meeting Babar Ahmad, a constituent and friend, imprisoned in Woodhill prison Bucks. since 2003 and who who faces extradition from Britain to America on terrorism charges , during two visits in 2005 and 2006 .The exact dates do not appear to have been published but the first visit was before Khan was elected in 2005 as an MP..

It makes one wonder what happened to the guidance from the chief inspector of constabulary on the recording of telephone conversations "so there can be no ambiguity"... if it was ever issued. Throughout the period in question it was of course Sir Ronnie "Alzheimers" Flanagan who was appointed on 1 April 2002 as Her Majesty' Inspector of Constabulary.

Cannot imagine he can remember anything about it, great man for ambiguity, yer man Flanagan , especially when it comes to the very, very, very, hazy subject of bent coppers , state paid terrists, murder, lies, deceit, dishonesty and looking after yer pals in the MASONS.

UPDATE : Tuesday 7.00 am BST It appears that British police under the 2000 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), can undertake such bugging on the instruction of a Chief Constable. Mr Ahmad is of course a smart guy and was probably fully aware that walls have ears - and evidently nothing was said that would cause offence or result in prosecution for one.

PS : This Draft Code of Practice laid before Parliament in June 2007 may apply and be the result of Charly Clarke's ideas about issuing guidance."Complaints about improper acquisition and disclosure of communications data may be reported to the Interception of Communications Commissioner who may then refer the case to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal " which is what Jack "War Criminal" Straw has done - although in Mr Ahmad's case it was not strictly "communications data - i.e telephone, e-mail etc., Hence the RUPI get out of jail card free defence.

Consulting a senior advisor on security matters - Gypsy Petulengro ....nothing is going to happen.

Hain - and his terrist connections - past and present.

Talkspace reveals a very distant but nonetheless interesting bit of Hain family history dated Feb 13th 2007.

The Minister for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain was born to South African parents who were anti-apartheid activists in the South African Liberal Party, for which they were made "banned persons", briefly jailed, and prevented from working. Friends of the Hain family formed a small resistance group, the Armed Resistance Movement.

The Armed Resistance Movement (ARM) was an terrorist group whose members were mainly white, and friends of Peter Hain's family were involved.

ARM came into being at the time of the arrest of the major ANC leadership. It succeeded in several bombing operations. However, a bombing in Johannesburg station in July 1964 led to the death of an elderly woman.

One of the ARM's operatives (John Harris, a school teacher) was subsequently arrested, convicted, sentenced to death, and executed.

Harris was a friend of Peter Hain's family, and Harris' wife, Ann, and their young son, David, went to live with the Hains in the run-up to the trial. The 15-year-old Peter Hain delivered the eulogy at the service for Harris after his execution by the South African government for planting the bombs that killed and wounded people in the blast.

Another site has a related part of the story which is best visited to fully understand ..

My grandmother . . . born and bred in England . . . ( Ethel Rhys) died one month after being
blown up on Johannesburg station (july 24th 1964) and it was thought that I would too.

Which might explain how well he understood the NI terrists and gangstas he had to deal with and meet their demands at the St Andrews summmit.

Or the embarassing case of his appointment of Mrs Bertha McDougall as Interim Commissioner for Victims and Survivors of the Troubles On 24 October 2005.

Mr Justice Girvan was tasked to review this curious appointment and taking the role of Solomon, said the appointment of Bertha McDougall by Mr Peter Hain, was in breach of "the accepted merit norms concerning public appointments" and he also called for a high-level inquiry.

Mr Justice Girvan held that Mr Hain had been motivated by an improper political purpose, namely a confidence-building gesture to the DUP.

Bertha is the widow of a police reservist killed by the INLA (Dirty Catholic bastards) in 1981 and her appointment and the method of appointment was challenged by Brenda Downes, whose husband Sean was killed by an RUC (Dirty Prod bastards) plastic bullet in west Belfast in 1984.

Interestingly, in a Judgement delivered on January 15, 2007 Lord Justice Girvan held that the post of IVC formally came to an end on 5th December 2006 by operation of Contract, as a result her report was issued as a personal report... and ..er ... Mr Hain's misdeeds.. er...swept... er... under the carpet. Forgotten .. but not by everybody.

Stop 'n' search ? Why travellers in UK "may be asked to prove their identity " ... State terrists at work

Tom Griffin at The Green Ribbon has received a response to his Freedom of Information request about the impact of e-borders on Northern Ireland.

It is better to read this response in it's entirety ... However one section of the lengthy and detailed response struck us in the way that radical changes are inexorably being made to internal travel .... which reminds at least one traveller of the recent announcements about luggage checks etc., at railway stations.....Gordon Brown reveals 'Fortress Britain' plan Daily Telegraph 16/11/2007 "Train passengers face routine airline-style bag checks and body searches as part of a new counter-terror crackdown announced by Gordon Brown."

"Section 14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 introduced a new power that will allow the police to capture passenger, crew and service information on air and sea journeys within the United Kingdom. The power will be brought into force by
secondary legislation in 2008. The specific police requirements under this power, which will include details of the routes affected and data required, are still under discussion within Government. Once the proposals have been finalised they will be subject to a 12 week public consultation. The police will use this data collected under this power to support intelligence led interventions to counter terrorism and tackle serious and organised crime. "

Which Government Notes to the act available here provide (as m'learned freinds would say) further and better particulars.

Section 14: Information gathering powers: extension to domestic flights and voyages
162. Section 14 provides for section 32 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006) ("the IAN Act") (police powers to gather information relating to flights and voyages to or from the United Kingdom) to be amended to include:


ships or aircraft arriving, or expected to arrive, in the UK from elsewhere in the UK, and


ships or aircraft leaving or expected to leave, from any place in the UK for elsewhere in the UK.

163. This will enable a constable of at least the rank of superintendent to request passenger, crew or service information from the owner or agent of a ship or aircraft on air and sea journeys within the UK.

164. Section 32 of the IAN Act states that the passenger, crew and service information which may be collected under the section will be specified in secondary legislation. Secondary legislation may also specify the form and manner in which information is to be provided.

165. Section 32 of the IAN Act also requires passengers and crew members to provide the owner or agent of a ship or aircraft with any information that he requires for the purposes of complying with a requirement to provide information.

166. Requests have to be in writing, may apply generally or only to one or more specified ships or aircraft, in either case, throughout a specified period (not exceeding six months) and must state the information required and the date or time by which the information must be provided.

167. Subsection (3) amends section 32(5) (interpretation of that section) and section 33(5) (police powers to gather information about freight entering or leaving the United Kingdom: interpretation of section) of the IAN Act by inserting a definition of a ship. A ship is defined as including every description of vessel used in navigation and hovercraft. Subsections (4) and (5) amend section 36 (duty to share travel and freight information) and section 38 (disclosure of travel and freight information for security purposes) of the IAN Act by inserting the above definition of a ship.

This arises from "Dr " Paisley the DUP leader writing recently to Gordon Brown expressing unionist alarm at the possibility that an "e-border" around Britain could see British citizens in Northern Ireland uniquely required to produce identification when travelling to other parts of the UK.

In reply, Mr Brown has told Dr Paisley that "there are no plans to require domestic passengers to produce passports on any domestic air or sea journey, including on routes from Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom". (Pheww that's a relief ?)

However ....... a press report from someone who has access to this correspondence (Irish Times) Gordon Brown refers to Section 14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006, which introducing the new power for the police to request passenger, crew and service "data" on domestic and sea journeys, Mr Brown confirms this power will be brought into force sometime this year, adding: "So, although passengers may be asked to prove their identity when travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom [as they do already on many flights], there is no question of instituting passport control for people travelling within the United Kingdom."

This of course only applies (it appears) to ships and aircraft .... watch out for extensions being built into the promised legislation to cover let us say, railway stations , bus terminals, motorway cafes .....

De Menezes murder - no blame, no discipline. NO WAY !!!!

The IPCC decision on Stockwell shooting discipline in full from their website

No disciplinary action will be taken against four senior Metropolitan Police Service officers as a result of the fatal shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes. All disciplinary reviews have now been concluded.

The four senior officers are Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick and three officers identified as Silver, Trojan 84 and Trojan 80. (WTF ?)

Independent Police Complaints Commission chair Nick Hardwick took the decision after considering the views of the Metropolitan Police Service, the Metropolitan Police Authority and the solicitor for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The health and safety trial verdict made it clear that mistakes were made that could have been avoided. The issue considered by the IPCC was whether those mistakes amounted to personal misconduct.

Planning and management were central to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dick's responsibilities on that day. The IPCC considered whether DAC Dick was responsible for failures in the planning or management of the operation that amounted to a disciplinary offence and which led to the conviction of the Office of the Commissioner for the Metropolis. The trial jury's response to this, having considered all the evidence, in their rider was unequivocal – in reaching their verdict they attached "no personal culpability to Commander Dick."

The IPCC cannot foresee any circumstances in which new evidence might emerge which would cause any disciplinary tribunal to disregard the jury's rider.

The responsibilities of DAC Dick and Silver, Trojan 84 and Trojan 80 were intertwined. The IPCC cannot see how any disciplinary tribunal could conclude that although no personal blame is attached to DAC Dick, it could attach to the other three officers.

So that's OK then.

We don't know who murdered Charles de Menezes. We don't even know if they were members of the Metropolitan Police.

What we do know is that " failures in the planning or management of the operation" were magically not the responsibility of anybody.

"The IPCC cannot see how any disciplinary tribunal could conclude that although no personal blame is attached to DAC Dick, it could attach to the other three officers." ...well we could of course give them a chance ... but then we know where that will lead.

PS : From June 1995 to January 2003 Nick Hardwick was Chief Executive of the Refugee Council. From 1986 to 1995 he was Chief Executive of the charity Centrepoint. He has also been a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee, the Prince's Trust Ethnic Minorities Advisory Group and (wudja bleeve it ?) the Holocaust Memorial Day Steering Group.

Obviously well qualified for his task with a BA (Hons) from Hull University in English Literature and has an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences from the University of Wolverhampton.

Violent Radicalization / Political Violence - a new lexicon on Terror - experts gather

A new Terminology has entered the lexicon in the unending War on Terror ...
The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act ...is finding its's way into law in the US .. and The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence is preparing for it's first conference... The First International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence in London, 17-18 January 2008.

This will follow up from The Global State of Radicalisation which was the was the title of two events, which took place at the Penn Club in New York on 17 October 2007. Speakers included Harvey Rubin from the University of Pennsylvania, Sir Lawrence Freedman from King's College London, Peter Neumann, Director of ICSR, and Henry Sweetbaum, a founder of ISCR. Yasar Qatarneh of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy and Boaz Ganor from the Interdiscplinary Center Herzliya participated via video-link from Amman and Tel Aviv respectively.... it appears these are the brains if not the money men behind this curious academic institute.

Anyway this first conference has invited some some fascinating participants from the world of Political Violence under the guise of nascent global but homegrown radicalism - take ....

Michael Hurley, another fucking lawyer, this one is president of Team 3i LLC, an international strategy company. He is Special Advisor for Counterterrorism to the Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)(founded by Ted Turner and Georgia Senator Sam Nunn - Warren Buffet is an Advisor)

He was Special Advisor on Counterterrorism to the U.S. State Department. As a Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission, he directed its counterterrorism policy investigation and co-authored its final report (so he likes a good joke). He was National Security Council director for the Balkans (great success). A career CIA operations officer, he led Agency personnel and U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan immediately after the 9/11 attacks (another huge success) . He served three tours in Afghanistan post-9/11, leading Agency employees and Special Forces in southeastern Afghanistan. He was one of the Agency's lead coordinators on the ground of Operation Anaconda, the largest battle against al Qaeda in the campaign in Afghanistan.

He also was a leader in the Kosovo and Bosnia conflicts and in the international intervention in Haiti (Ho.Ho.Ho.).( The alleged success of Op. Anaconda has been widely criticised ****)

Not much he doesn't know about fomenting radicalism and organising political violence then.

Sir David Omand (Corpus Christie) who has spent much of his career in the Ministry of Defence, including as Deputy Secretary for Policy, Under Secretary in charge of the defence programme, and Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State. He served for seven years on the UK's Joint Intelligence Committee, and was Director of Government Communications Head Quarters(GCHQ) from 1996-1997, and the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office from 1997-2000. He retired from public service in 2005, and is now a visiting professor at the Department of War Studies at King's College London. In 2002 Sir David was appointed as the first ever UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, exercising overall direction on behalf of the Prime Minister of the national counter-terrorism strategy and responsible for homeland security - since retirement he has been elected for 4 years to the board of The Natural History Museum.

It was of course Mr (now Sir) John Scarlett (chum of Alastair Campbell, now Head of MI6 and ex - Magdelen) ) who sent a "note" to Sir David Omand, the Cabinet Office security and intelligence co-ordinator, in which he said that Dr Kelly needed "a proper security-style interview" to clarify apparent inconsistencies in his statement about his meeting with Gilligan.

Dr David Kelly was found dead shortly after... Political Violence ?

Avi Dichter, the public security minister and a former head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, had been invited to take part in the ICSRPV conference but he was also due to speak at a conference on security at King's College London.

However he was recently advised by Israel's foreign and justice ministries not to risk a visit to the UK.

Dichter as head of Shin Bet was involved in a Israeli military attack on July 22nd 2002 on a house in Gaza that killed Hamas military commander Salah Shehadeh, his bodyguard and 13 civilians, including children. The strike drew criticism, including from then UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who warned Israel to comply with international law.The attack involved an Israeli F-16 dropping a one-ton bomb in a densely populated area of Gaza City.They had ruled out a helicopter attack because it was not thought to be powerful enough, and had decided against the use of ground forces for fear that it would lead to many Israeli casualties.

British law allows individuals to seek warrants for the arrest of those suspected of serious human rights abuses abroad hence his concern. Dichter is not the first Israeli official to risk arrest under this law. In September 2005 detectives were waiting at Heathrow airport to arrest a retired Israeli general, Doron Almog, on war crimes charges relating to house demolitions and "targeted killings" in Gaza. Almog's plane landed but he was tipped off by Israeli diplomats and stayed on board until the El -Al flight took off again for Israel.

A year later former military chief Moshe Ya'alon, cancelled a trip to London for fear of arrest and Israeli authorities warned the then chief of staff, Dan Halutz, that he should also avoid travelling to the UK. Both men were also involved in the decision to attack Shehadeh in 2002.In a Ha’aretz interview, Israeli Air Force Commander at the time Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz claimed to be satisfied both "militarily and morally" with the operation.

Political Violence ... another expert ...

Check out the other invited speakers

Peter Bergen
Yezid Sayigh
Ely Karmon
Jack DuVall
Kjell Magne Bondevik
Satish Nambiar
Audrey Kurth Cronin
Anne Speckhard
Frank Gardner
Terry Davis
Kim Campbell
Francisco Santos Calderon
Olivier Roy
Dan Benjamin
Sadig Al-Mahdi
Saad Eddin Ibrahim
William Zartman
Cem Özdemir
Andrés Pastrana

Curiously no mention of Old Age Pensioner Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville Jones ... yet.

PS : ****

"Since it kicked off at the start of March 2002, Operation Anaconda has been a minefield of contradictory statements and unanswered questions. Was it an 'absolute success' (3), or a 'big mistake' (4)? Did it wipe out the last 'pockets of al-Qaeda and Taliban resistance' (5), or did al-Qaeda fighters 'escape' to fight again (6)? Did America's first combined ground-and-air offensive of the war kill 800 of the enemy (7), or about 20 (8)? One US commentator says, 'We don't know, the Afghans don't know - and the US military doesn't seem to know'."

See also